 How to receive more appreciation
and acknowledgment for your artistry and skill as a florist?
Would you want to create bigger
and more expensive flower arrangements as a rule?
As a florist, you are basically
an artist as well as a business executive.
For both the artisan and the
merchant, it would probably be to your liking if customers would
order top-quality bouquets as a rule.
Have you ever thought what
would happen if a lot MORE customers would demand flower arrangements
that offer you the artistic challenges you want while also providing more income
and profits to the business end of your florist's establishment?
How would that feel for you?
What would it mean personally
for your job motivation and sense of fulfilment as an artist
and/or an artisan?
Would it give more satisfaction?
And what about financial rewards...
would it make life easier, give more breathing room economically
and lessen the stress of the business end of things?
Would it enable you to buy
wholesale, order the kind of top-quality cut flowers and accessories
that you really WANT but can't afford (or can't buy due to lack
of demand) currently?
Hmm... it doesn't sound too
bad, does it?
Certainly there's a lot to
be said for combining heightened job satisfaction with financially
viable business activity, especially for an artistic and creative
person like you, the florist.
But is it silly to think that
it could be achieved?
Is it daydreaming to talk about
it? Is this an unachievable absolute of beingness for any artistic
business owner?
Well it might appear that way
at the face of it... but it is actually something quite achievable...
something many florists have already achieved.
Marketing the
end result of quality florist service to those who can afford
it
 Essentially
there are two ways to do business as a florist.
One is the familiar method
of setting up shop, advertising, and then selling cut flowers
to those customers who walk in through the door when they need
a nice bouquet for some occasion.
The emphasis here is on selling
flowers, fronting with the "physical product" and pricing
them... and not the service that goes with it.
The other — and mostly
unutilized — way is to sell your SERVICE, to sell your creative abilities
as the artisan, one
whose aesthetic eye is priceless in creating elegant flower arrangements
as an expression of feelings and/or appreciation toward someone
on the behalf of your customer.
Who else could speak the language
of floral expression as fluently as you can?
Who could translate
the feelings, emotions, or sentiments of any kind into an elegant
message by way of a flower arrangement like you can?
Art is basically communication
with a medium.
For the sculptor the vehicle
of communication is set in stone or bronze or metal.
The painter's vehicle is formed
out of the canvas and colours.
And a composer paints his or
her work of art with sounds, silences and harmonies.
There's one thing common with
all forms of art, regardless of the medium:
They create an emotional
impression on the beholder or receiver.
These works create feelings
of the kind which the artist intended.
For the florist, the medium
is flowers and accessories thereto, out of which he or she creates
a unique work of art that COMMUNICATES to the receiver.
As an art form, flower arrangements
may have a shortish lifespan in terms of survival of the biological
matter (flowers)... but definitely one of LONG duration when
it comes to the IMPRESSION made on the person who RECEIVES that
lovely arrangement of tasteful elegance.
RECEIVING that communication,
perceiving the emotional messages incorporated into the work
of art does NOT require expertise.
And the emotional message —
its appreciation, devotion, passion, admiration, esteem, love
or romantic fascination — will last for a lifetime.
Let's not be shy about it.
Your artistry can communicate many things and anything... and
the form of the message will be remembered far longer than the
viewing of most other forms of art.
The expertise is that of the
artist and he/she builds the communication into the bouquet.
Just because the outside world
is mostly unable to CREATE such artwork does NOT mean they can't
appreciate them quite naturally and experience the communication
thereof.
Of course they can. You don't
need to be a musician to be swept away by the emotion of a nice
song. You don't need to know how a fine champagne is made to
be able to enjoy it, right?
And therein — in this
amazing form of artistry whose creations can so awaken feelings
and bring about lifelong memories to cherish — lies your
highest and most valuable "sellable asset," if you
excuse the expression.
If we compare this with selling
flowers, we can see the difference both in terms of professional
appreciation (and satisfaction) achieved AND the price (profit)
you can ask for the commodity.
A guy walks into your flower
shop and asks "How much are the roses?" You
tell him and he then thinks for a second and decides "Erm...Give
me ten..."
See? He is buying FLOWERS as
priced units.
The creation of the bouquet
out of these "ten roses" comes as a free service...
...and because it's
free, he probably won't even NOTICE it, let alone show much appreciation
toward your artistry.
Not that this scenario necessarily
motivates YOU to go out of your way to create a unique work of
art of the bouquet for this punter, right?
It's funny that the florist's
business works this way.
I mean, isn't it much like
going to the bricklayer and asking him what bricks cost... and
then assuming that buying the bricks will mean he builds the
wall free of charge?
And you're NOT a bricklayer.
If we have to place the florist into the construction industry
metaphor then you would be the ARCHITECT, the artist who has
the power of creation as well as the knowledge of the techniques
of building.
And you certainly wouldn't
ask an architect to create a unique building free of charge if
you buy a pile of bricks, some mortar and a stack of two-by-fours,
right?
So why does THAT sound so outrageous
and silly but not so when your customer buys "ten roses"
and gets the most valuable part of it totally free of charge...
so much so that he doesn't even NOTICE it?
Why not try taking the 10 roses
and shoving them into a plastic bag for the guy and asking for
the money? Let's see if he is satisfied. He SHOULD be... after
all, he asked for ten roses and you GAVE HIM the roses, didn't
you?
So he should be totally SATISFIED
since he receives EXACTLY WHAT HE ASKED FOR.
Only... he won't be satisfied.
He'll be mystified and soon
enough dissatisfied... and all because we've basically taught
him to expect the most valuable part of our service absolutely
free of charge as if it had NO value at all!
And it doesn't have value to
many customers simply because the way people experience value.
Something that's free is not
valuable, see?
That's the THINKING, not the
truth of course.
Breathing pure air, having
spectacular views to see, feeling the warmth of a gentle Summer
breeze, enjoying beauty everywhere, experiencing love, possessing
the right to pursue happiness and success... all these things
are FREE and yet PRICELESSLY VALUABLE for every human being.
But we seldom appreciate those
things that come for free. It's human nature to take them for
granted... and we only NOTICE those things when they're suddenly
MISSING.
So there's much to be gained
in stature, job satisfaction and degree of appreciation received
by selling your skills rather than just mere flowers.
But how does one achieve that
state of things?
Selling quality
and eloquence instead of physical objects (flowers)
 Just
like an artist would never price his works of art based on how
much paint, canvas and varnish were used in their creation, why
should YOU sell the ingredients of the final artwork to the customer?
If you could start selling
your services, your artistic creativeness as a professional who
has the unique ability to communicate practically anything with
flower arrangements...
...then it stands to reason
that you could charge far more for your services than the retail
value of the actual cut flowers and accessories that go into
the bouquets.
The way to command appreciation
from your customers is to sell your skill, not the physical objects
with which you create the unique work of art. And it IS unique
since no two bouquets are ever exactly alike.
So, how could you start selling
your SERVICE instead of "just flowers..." and sell
quality and eloquence as the end result, with more freedom to
price the arrangements beyond what its ingredients (flowers and
accessories) cost?
And how could you be guaranteed
to command appreciation for your artistry from the customers
so that they truly appreciate the magic of your art?
Now, in regards to HOW it is
made into a reality, there are good news and less-good news.
The good news is
that it can be done.
It is completely within your
possibilities to achieve this state of things. Easily.
It CAN be done and many of
your fellow florists HAVE accomplished it... now enjoying the
increased status, heightened job satisfaction, and financial
success therefrom.
The second bit of good news
is that
it is NOT difficult to achieve this change of selling your skill instead of
the ingredients of the work of art you create.
It doesn't take long and it
doesn't require an additional degree, nor does it demand huge
investment.
The lesser good news is that
while it's quite doable and relatively simple to accomplish,
the changeover to selling quality and service requires certain
specific actions, each done in correct sequence and exactly right.
In other words, to reach this
marked improvement in job motivation, appreciation and profits,
you need to do a number of steps in right order and more or
less in a specific way.
You'll need to know WHO to
offer your service and how they think, what they like and so
on.
You'll need to know HOW to
formulate the concept of the service so it APPEALS and COMMUNICATES
to this selective target group.
You must know HOW to approach
them, which way to present the service, how to create interest,
in which way to get them to commit to it... and how to deliver
the deluxe service...
...so that you can achieve
a good number of new customers for the service and RETAIN these
for years to come.
It's a question of ensuring
that each customer ORDERS flower
arrangements IN
ADVANCE for the whole
year and does so in abundance both in terms of the number of
deliveries and the quality (cost) of each bouquet.
None of this is complicated
or difficult to do as such. You could do it easily — any
florist could.
But all of it requires precise
and accurate actions and tools to be accomplished sufficiently
correctly so as to guarantee the expected end results.
However, because the method
of achieving it is so precise and the instructions of use so
detailed, and since possessing this knowledge will give such
a huge competitive edge to you as a florist in your area, it
cannot be published on a web site.
Instead, we've documented the
whole system and all the ready-to-use tools in form of a manual
we call the Florist's Flower Power Business Expansion Guide (Flower
Power Guide for short)
CLICK HERE
to read the presentation of the Florist's Flower Power Guide.
I guarantee that it will make
a world of difference in the amount of appreciation you obtain
from customers... to say nothing of the motivation and profits
that are available for you if you can change into selling quality
services instead of only "flowers."
Try it and you'll see... it
may be the thing you've been looking for!
Best wishes,
HDK
Consultants Ltd
32 Manning Close
Richmond Square
East Grinstead RH19 2DR
West Sussex
United Kingdom (England)
Tel. 01342-328 116
Int: +44-1342-328-116
CONTACT FORM |
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